Superhero Filmmakers: Where's Our Watchmen?

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I was talking about Sin City with my drummer the other day - we both agreed that, like 300, as a film adaptation of Miller's work its very true, and strikingly faithful. The problem is the source material is a bunch of beautifully executed crap. A quarter of the way through Sin City (after the shock of how well Miller's style had been translated to screen wore off) I remembered why I stopped reading Miller's comics sometime in the mid-90s: they suck.

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nice to see that David Hyde Pierce hasn't been typecast after Frasier.

loving the fake veidt ads

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/hollywood/magazine/17-03/ff_moore_qa?currentPage=all

One thing is that with the comics medium, it has been proven—I believe by Pentagon tests in the late '80s—that comics are actually the best medium for imparting information to somebody in a form that they will retain and remember. That's not just me saying that, that's the Pentagon.

The Alan Moore/Jack Chick collaboration really needs to happen.

I was talking about Sin City with my drummer the other day

picturing this as Shakey having a drummer who follows him around everywhere

http://www.ai.mit.edu/lab/olympics/04/images/muppets-animal.jpg

I was talking about Sin City with my drummer the other day

He said Frank Miller was a sucker.

http://www.sevenoaksart.co.uk/images/teddydrummer.gif

lolz

fwiw the geek press seems to like it

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/watchmen/

"They're being bought in many cases by hopeless nostalgics or, putting the worst construction on it, perhaps cases of arrested development who are not prepared to let their childhoods go, no matter how trite the adventures of their various heroes and idols."

arrrrrrrrrrgh. I'd like to share with whoever wrote that quote one of the important pieces of life wisdom I've learned from comics:

Any conflict can be resolved with a punch to the jaw.

Are you SURE about wanting to share that, Oilyrags?

"arrrrrrrrrrgh. I'd like to share with whoever wrote that quote one of the important pieces of life wisdom I've learned from comics:"

Alan Moore's a twig. I'm sure you can take him.

Haha! Also: checking sources is for sissies.

lets not forget that watchmen is leftist propaganda (the first bad review I read here)

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oilyrags is chris brown

"The real disappointment is that the film does not transport an audience to another world, as 300 did."

The Veidt guy has an awfully weak chin for a superhero.

The opening murder happens to a character called the Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), who was once a member of a now-banished team of superheroes called the Masks.

There is something a little lackadaisical here. The set pieces are surprisingly flat and the characters have little resonance. Fight scenes don't hold a candle to Asian action.

The opening murder happens to a character called the Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), who was once a member of a now-banished team of superheroes called the Masks.

― abominable spirit (latebloomer), Thursday, February 26, 2009 3:14 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

cameo from jim carrey?

I'm just disappointed that it didn't transport me to another world. The world of this one a couple of thousand years ago, albeit one with giant dudes with claw hands and enormous transvestites.

#
80. GodsGOD comments:
February 26, 2009
How does it feel to be such a moron? Did your parents have any kids that lived? I'm sure they're thrilled about having a brain-dead, waste of space for a child. We should blame them for conceiving you. You aren't worth the skin you were printed on.

#
49. kirksuxballs comments:
February 26, 2009
see username

I let my Dad read the book. He liked it and said Rorshach was his favorite character. I told him that The Comedian was my favorite character and he said that The Comedian was too immoral. But then again, so is Rorschach right? And so is Veidt and I would say Dr. Manhattan as well. I'm seriously contemplating making a favorite character poll :p

I wonder what actor they got to play the midget dude during the jail scene.

I admit I lol'ed at this:Owen Gleiberman will certainly find some mincing way to pan this movie, if he gets the assignment, because it's not "Moulin Rouge" or "Priscilla Queen of the Desert".

"He liked it and said Rorshach was his favorite character."

I'd worry about your dad.

Rorschach is the most overtly moral character in the story.

Captain Lorax, "Big Figure" is being played by this dude, Danny Woodburn:

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/nov2007/Danny%20Woodburn.jpg

^^^are you fucking kidding me

there are no moral characters in the graphic novel

FWIW, I think this film's gonna be huge regardless of how it's reviewed and even if it's good or not.
patiently waiting

A huge piece of crap.

I think it's going to do three good weeks of box office then drop like it was pushed off a table.

there are no moral characters in the graphic novel

― Comic Book Morbius (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, February 26, 2009 8:38 PM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark

they all think they're really moral, but iirc each one seems to have a personal code that becomes impotent when confronted with the complications of the real world

I can get why Dan calls Rorschach the only character in the novel and understand why he appeals to so many people - he's the only one who doesn't sacrifice his principles. What these people often conveniently overlook is that Rorscach's principles are completely fucked up - he is an utterly alienated, sadistic bastard, devoid of compassion and empathy. The only difference between him and Ozymandias is that Veidt actually found a way to impact the world on a scale that Rorscach only wishes he was capable of. Rorscach does not have any problem with mass murder per se, he just has a problem with the person orchestrating it being someone other than himself and someone who is not aligned with Rorscach's particular principles.

But there is no one in the book who presents an uncompromised moral, humanist, empathetic voice (ie a Jesus or a Gandhi or lolz an Alan Moore)

only MORAL character

i thought rorschach's appeal was always his holden caulfield-esque righteous contempt that invites identification from alienated young men, tbh

well yeah that too

Rorschy had the best zings

> But there is no one in the book who presents an uncompromised moral, humanist, empathetic voice (ie a Jesus or a Gandhi or lolz an Alan Moore)

To Moore's credit, even when he does create a character who takes this pov, notably Miracleman and Swamp Thing, he recognizes the OTHER problems with it.

I would like to point out two things:

- Rorschach's viewpoint being fucked up does not automatically make it immoral.
- "Moral" does not automatically mean "humanist" or "empathetic".

lol, Rorschach would break all your fingers if he caught you equivocating like that

Rorschach isn't the only one who doesn't sacrifice his principles.

There's The Comedian. My favorite character.
"Listen... once you figure out what a joke everything is, being a comedian is the only thing that makes sense"

He was the only one who "got it". He stopped the Crimebusters from forming. But that was outta principle. He was the true cynic and realist of the novel. And he was right about the rest of the world being a joke that cant be saved (in the long run). He lived just to get by and didn't care who he was working for. A government stooge - nah - he just did what he was good at and kept on helping America through his job even though he saw how worthless one person's influence is. He never really gave up and sacrificed his principles because he continued his government job - albeit in vain. He was not a quitter.

Yeah he was a terrible person... but some reasons why he is my favorite are:
1.) he was the only one who saw the world as a joke.
2.) he had smarts. For instance he confronted Dr. Manhattan when the Dr. didn't do anything to stop him from killing the pregnant Vietnamese chick. He knew the Dr.s worst flaw but didn't hold it against him.
3.) when Rorschach says "Blake is interesting. I have never met anyone so deliberately amoral. He suits the climate here: the madness, the pointless butchery... as I come to understand Vietnam and what it implies about the human condition, I also realize that few humans will permit themselves such an understanding. Blake's different. He understands perfectly... and he doesn't care."

note: Captain Lorax's favorite is the guy who shoots a woman who's pregnant with his child